Can conveying machine



Dec. l5, 1953 E. C. KRAUS ET AL CAN CONVEYING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 3l, 1949 Nw x@ ww, WN N m i Q @Gx m mw @n @AWA m NJ MWI Q um@ 1M r Q momma m Q bx MN wv .A\O MQ NN a NQ Dec. l5, 1953 E. c. KRAUS ET AL 2,662,631

CAN CONVEYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 51, 1949 DeC- 15, 1953 E. c. KRAus lE1' AL 2,662,631

CAN CONVEYING-MACHINE Filed Jan. 5l, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 15, 1953 E. c. KRAUS ET AL 2,662,631

CAN CONVEYING MACHINE med Jan. s1, 1949 ?atented Dec. 15, 1953 'CAN CONVEYING MACHINE Edwin C. Kraus and Maurice V. Douthitt, Ortonville, lMinn.

Application January 31, 1949, Serial No. 73.847

13 Claims.

Our present invention relates to improvements in can or other receptacle conveying means.

While this invention is intended ior general use, it is especially well adapted for use in connection with our can unloading machines disclosed and broadly claimed in our pending application for patent for Method and Machine for Unloading Cans, filed May 14, 1947, under Serial No. 748,132, and our application for patent for Can Unloading Machine, filed January 31, 1949, under Serial Number 73,846.

The object of this invention is to provide a highly eicient machine for conveying cans in bulk upright positions, in sorting the same into a row or rows and thereafter turning the upn right cans into horizontal or rolling positions.

While the invention is shown and will hereinafter be described for use in handling either empty or lled cans, it is equally well adapted for handling other receptacles.

To the above end, generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combination of devices hereinafter described and dened in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Figs. 1 and 1a are plan views of the improved can conveying machine segregated on the line x-x;

Figs. 2 and 2a are right side elevational views segregated on the line y-y;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal vertical section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. la;

Fig. 4 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3, on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is a detail view partly in elevation and partly in section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, on the same scale as Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view principally in rear elevation with some parts sectioned on the line E-v-YB of Fig. 2; on the same scale as Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail View partly in plan and partly in section taken on the line l-l of Fig. 6;

Figs. 8 and 9 are fragmentary detail views partly in side elevation and partly in section taken, respectively, on the lines 8-3 and 9 9 of Fig. 1 on the same scale as Fig. 4; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan view withv hanger arm sectioned on the line lll-l0 of Fig. 9. i The numeral Il indicates a long narrowskel.-

' flanges 25.

eton frame having a pair of front legs I2 and a rear pair of legs I3 in the form of angle bars having on their lower ends leveling screws ifi. The legs I2 and I3, on each side of the frame II, are connected, at their upper ends by a side guide rail I5 comprising a rear section it and a front section Il that is considerably shorter than said rear section and outwardly o'setg therefrom. The adjacent end portions of the guard rail sections I6 and I7 are rigidly connected by bending the forward end portion of the rear guard rail section I6 outwardly at right angles and rigidly securing the same to the iront guard rail section I7 to afford a spacer lil. The end oi the .iront guard rail Il, at the spacer I8, is bent obliquely inwardly to the outer side of rear guard rail section I6 and rigidly secured thereto as a brace i9. It will be noted that the front guard rail section Il is considerably higher than the rear guard rail section i6. The legs i2 and i3 ateach side of the frame II are further connected at their intermediate portions by an angle bar 2t and braces 2|.

Each side guard rail i5 is provided with an adjustable section 22 that overlaps the front end portion of the rear guard rail section le on its inner side and secured thereto by a pair of screws 23. These screws 23 extend through longitudinal slots in the rear guard rail section It and have threaded engagement with the adjustable guard rail section 22. The forward end portion of the adjustable guard rail section 22 extends obliquely to the front guard rail section Il. The rear guard rail sections i6 have inturned anges 25 and a deck 25 in the plane of said flanges and secured thereto.

A wide endless conveyor belt 2l runs over a driven front roll 28 and a rear idle roll 29. The upper run of the belt 21 is supported on the flanges 25 and the deck 25 and its longitudinal edges are closely positioned to the rear guard rail sections It. The driven roll 28 has a shaft t@ journaled in bearings 3l on horizontal angle bars 32 between the front guard rail sections Il and the angle bars 2E). These angle bars 32, at their front ends, are secured to the front legs I2 and their rear end portions extend obliquely upwardly and rearwardly and are secured to the The idle roll 29 has a shaft 33 journaled in bearings 34 slidably mounted in plates secured to the rear pair of legs I3 and project rearwardly therefrom. Belt-tightening screws 35 have threaded engagement with the rear pair of legs I3 and impinge the bearings tt. The bearings34 are connected by a cross-tie bar 31 having an upright member 38 provided with an inturned flange that affords a narrow deck 39 in the plane of the upper run of the belt 21.

On each side of the belt 21, at its forward end portion, is a narrow endless conveyor belt 40 that extends forwardly thereof. The two belts 49 run over pulleys 4| on a front driven shaft 42 and pulleys 43 on an idle shaft 44. The front shaft 42 is journaled in bearings 45uon the front pair of legs 2 and the idle shaft 44 is journaled in bearings .46 on the angle bars 32. The upper runs of the belts 21 and 40 are in the same plane.

Overlying the adjacent longitudinal edge portions of the belts 21 and 40 is a pair of inner guard rails 41, each in the for'rn o'f a shallow channel, the flanges of which extend horizontally outwardly. The webs of thexguard yrails 41, at their inner end portions, are extended rearwardly of the flanges of said rails and are curved inwardly, as indicated at 43. A wide inverted channel bar 49 extends transversely over 'the belt 21 'and also over the belts 49 forwardly of the ad; justable guard rail sections 22. The channel bar 49, at each end portion, is supported on the trans- `ver`se portions of a pair of yoke-like rods that afford a bearing U. The transverse portions of 'the bearings 59 extend through aligned holes in the lflanges of the channel bar 49. The legs of 4the bearings 5|] are held for vertical adjustment in 'clamps 5| on the outer sides vof the front guard rails |11. The bearings 56 are raised or lowered by long screws 52 having threaded `engagement with short pieces of angle bars 53' on the outer sides of the front guard rail sections l1 between the members of each pair of clamps 5|. The transverse 'portions of the bearings 59 loose vly rest on the heads ofthe screws 52.

On the front ange'of the channel bar 49 is a pair of angle members 54, each having 'a depending hanger arm 55. The guard `rails 41, at their rear end portions, are attached to the hanger 'arms 55 by screw-threaded studs 56 on the webs of said guard rails. These studs 5'6 extend through holes in the webs of the guard rails 41 andsaid guard rails held where laterally adjusted on said studs, by pairs of opposing nuts 51. The guard rails 41, at their front end portions, are supported from upstanding ears 58 by lstuds 69 "similar to the studs 56. These studs 59 extend through vertical slots 69 in the ears 58 and 'are secured to 'said ears by pairs of opposing nuts 6| 'on said studs. The ears 58 are 'secured to a crosstie bar 62 that connects the two front legs |2. Integral with the ears 58 is a pair of forwardly projecting bearing plates 63. The cross-tie ba'r 62 also affords a support for the belts 4U.

As heretofore stated, this invention is especially well adapted for use in connection with 'our can unloading machine and a fragment thereof is shown in Fig. 2, wherein the frame, the lift ,platfform and the carriage are designated by the numerals 64, 65, 'and 66, respectively. Supported o'n the lift platform 65, within the carriage 66, Ais a plurality of tiers of `cans the upper ti'er be'- ing partly moved over the deck 39 and onto the upper run of the belt 21. The bulk cans :r on the belt 21, upon reaching the outer end portion of the machine, are divided at the transverse ceniter of the belt 21, into two groups and deflected onto the belts 40 by the following mechanism, to wit: A pair of V belts 61 that deflect one group of cans :c onto the right-hand belt 40 and a second pair of V belts 68 direct the other group of cans a: onto the left-hand belt 40. These belts `61 and 68 all move in parallel horizontal planes.

on a driven upright shaft 10 and a pair of rear eccentric pulleys 1| loose on an upright fixed shaft 12. The belts 68 run over a pair of front pulleys 13 on an upright driven shaft 14 and a pair of eccentric pulleys 15 loose on the fixed shaft 12.

The pairs of belts 61 and 68 are in forwardly diverging relation from the shaft 12 which is located at the transverse center of the belt 21 and the pairs of belts 61 and 68 where they pass around the pulleys 69 and 13 slightly overlying the inner longitudinal edge portions of the belts 46. The shafts 1|land 14, at their upper end portions, extend upwardly through holes in the web of the channel bar 49 and are journaled in bearings 16 within said channel bar and secured thereto. The -xed shaft 12 at its upper end portion is secured in the web of a short inverted channel bar 11 rigidly secured to the rear flange of the channel bar 49 at its longitudinal center and projects rearwardly therefrom. n

The V-shaped space formed by the inner runs of the belts 61 and 68 is substantially lled with a V-shaped structure 18 held suspended from the channel bar 49. On the bottom of the structure 18 is a flat plate 19 that extends outwardly of the side thereof. The shafts 16 and 14, at their lower end portions, are journaled in the plate T9 and the fixed shaft 12, at its lower end, is secured in said plate.

The roll 28, the pulleys 4| and the shafts 10 and 14 are driven from an electric motor 8|)v mounted on the angle bars 20 at the frontend portion o'f the frame An electric cable 8| leads to a switch box 82 and a cable '83 leads to the rnotor 89. A vflexible coupling 84 connects the 'armature shaft 85 of the motor 89 to a shaft 86 that extends into va variable speed unit 81 on the angle bars 20. A shaft 88 journaled in the housing of the variable speed unit 81 has on one of its end portions a large spur gear 39 that meshes with va spur gear 90 on a countershaft 9| journaled in bearings 92 on upright angle bars 93 secured to the angle bars 20 and 32. For the purpose of this case, it is not thought necessary to 'show the connections in the Variable speed unit 81 from the shaft 86 to the shaft 88 for the reason that the same is so well known. A sprocket vlchain 94 runs lover a sprocket wheel 95 on the countershaft V9| a sprocket wheel 96 on the shaft 42 of the roll 4|, a sprocket wheel 91 on a trans- -`\fers`e shaft 98 overlying the channel bar 49 and under a chain-tightening pulley 99 adiustably 'mounted on vthe right-hand angle bar 8.2. The -rsha'lt '98 is journaled in bearings |06 on the channel bar 49 and has secured thereto a pair of worm lgears I that meshwith Worm gears |32, on the shafts 10 and 14. The shaft 36 of the roll 28 is driven from the countershaft 9| by a sprocket chain `|93 on the left-hand side of the machine, that runs overa sprocket wheel |64 on the countershaft 9| and 'a sprocket wheel |05 von the shaft 39.

From 'the abo've description, it is evident that the V belts 61 and 68 maybe vertically adjusted, the guard rail section 22 may be endwise adjusted and the 4guard rails 41 may be vertically and laterally adjusted to accommodate the machine 'to cans of different sizes. The pair of V belts 61 and 6'8 deflect the cans x on the belt 2| onto the belts 40 -into single rows and longitudinally spaced apart. The eccentric pulleys 1| and 13, acting on the V belts 61 and 68, facilitate the deflectin and feeding Yof the cans .r from the The belts 61 run over a pair of front pulleys 69 75 belt 21 01150 th'e'bltlo. A bow-like guard rod i attached at its ends to the rear flange of the channel bar d5, overlies the cans :c adjacent to the belts el' and 5d and prevents said cans :r from being forced upwardly over said belts by the crowding of the cans The upright cans :r in rows on the belts are discharged from the right-hand belt 49 into a spiral chute lli? and from the left-hand belt til into a spiral chute Hi8 that is materially longer than the chute ld?. cludes a plurality of half round rods |99 and i l0, respectively. The rods 109, at their end portions, extend into front and rear upright square frames i!! and secured to the four sides thereof. The chute ltd includes front, rear and intermediate square frames l l2 through which the rods H0 extend and are secured to the four sides thereof. The upright cans :c discharged into the chutes l0? and 108 are turned thereby into horizontal rolling positions.

The rearmost frames lll and H2 are pivotally secured to the front end portions of the bearing plates t3 and the guard rail section l1 by short links l i3. Cans a: are discharged from the chute lill into an inclined trough H0 comprising an inner section i l5 and an outer section H5. The outer trough section I I6 comprises a pair of angle bars lil cross-connected by the tie-bars H3. The delivery end portion of the chute |98 overlies the rear end portion 0f the trough section il@ -U and is spaced thereabove to permit the rolling cans :r in the trough H4 to pass thereunder Cans r in the chute |08 are discharged into the underlying trough section H6. The sides of the trough section l I5, forwardly of the delivery end :i

Each chute till-E in- Cans .r discharged from the i trough section. On the bottom of the trough k l lll is a pair of track rails l22 in the form of half round rods on which the cans a: roll.

The drawings illustrate a commercial form of the invention, but it will be understood that the same is capable of certain modications as to details of construction, arrangement and combination of parts within the scope of the invention herein disclosed.

What we claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a main conveyor belt, a secondary conveyor belt at one side of said main belt, a belt extending transversely over the main belt for deiiecting articles cn the main belt onto the secondary belt, a pair of spaced pulleys over which the transversely extending belt is trained, and means for vibrating the transversely extending belt by bodily shifting the belt at the region of contact with one of said pulleys.

2. In a machine of the class described, a main conveyor belt, a secondary conveyor at one side of the main conveyor belt, a belt extending transversely over the main belt for deflecting articles on the main belt onto the secondary conveyor, means for driving the transverse belt, and a pair of space-d pulleys including an eccentric pulley over which the transverse belt runs.

3. In a machine of the class described, a main conveyor belt, a secondary conveyor belt at each side of the main belt, a driven pulley at each side of the main belt, an idle eccentric pulley at the transverse center of the main belt, a defleeting belt arranged to run over each driven pulley and the eccentric pulley for deiiecting articles on the main belt onto the secondary belts.

4. A machine as defined in claim 2, wherein said secondary conveyor comprises an endless belt, the conveyor surface of which is disposed substantially coplanar with the conveyor surface of the main conveyor belt.

5. A machine as dened in claim 2, wherein said secondary conveyor comprises an endless belt, the conveyor surface of which is disposed substantially coplanar with the conveyor surface of thc main conveyor belt, the secondary conveyor belt being operable at a higher lineal speed than the lineal speed of the main conveyor belt.

6. A machine as defined in claim 2, wherein said eccentric pulley is disposed at the end of the transverse belt initially engaged by the articles moving along the main conveyor belt.

'7. In a machine of the class described, a main conveyor belt, a secondary conveyor at each side of the main belt, a pair of pulleys respectively adjacent the sides of the main belt, a pair of eccentric pulleys overlying the main belt and more centrally disposed thereon in relation to the side pulleys, a deflecting belt arranged to run over each side and eccentric pulley, said deflecting belts being operable to deect articles from the main belt onto the secondary conveyors, and means for driving the denecting belts.

8. A machine as defined in claim 7, wherein said secondary conveyors comprise endless belts, the conveyor surfaces of which are substantially coplanar with the conveyor surface of the main conveyor belt.

9. A machine as dei-ined in claim. 7, wherein said secondary conveyors comprise endless belts, the conveyor surfaces or which are substantially coplanar with the conveyor surface of the main conveyor belt, the lineal speed of the secondary conveyor belts being greater than the lineal speed of the main conveyor belt.

10. A machine as dened in claim 7, wherein said eccentric pulleys are disposed in position for initial engagement by the articles conveyed upon the main conveyor belt.

11. A machine as defined in claim 7, wherein said eccentric pulleys are substantially coaxially mounted.

12. A machine as dened in claim 7, wherein said eccentric pulleys are substantially coaxially mounted at the transverse center of the main conveyor belt.

13. A machine as defined in claim 7, wherein each deecting belt comprises upper and lower sections disposed substantially in vertical superimposition, and wherein the upper section of one belt lies in a plane between the upper and lower sections of the other belt.

EDWIN C. KRAUS. MAURICE V. DOUTHITT.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,058,287 Baxter Apr. 8, 1913 1,852,556 Cramer Apr. 5, 1932 1,990,549 Kimball Feb. 12, 1935 2,097,368 Frank Oct. 26, 1937 2,222,514 OBrien Nov. 19, 1940 2,242,531 Marx May 20, 1941 

